


if the right words exist, may they find our lips

by Arinalle Fanirei (ShakyHades)



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Banter, Bullying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, I am SALTY, Pining Riku (Kingdom Hearts), also let riku and kairi be friends goddamn it, let sora TALK about his feelings nomura ffs, they bully sora in kh3 and you cannot change my mind
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 22:08:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21926251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShakyHades/pseuds/Arinalle%20Fanirei
Summary: It seems like everyone and their mother has noticed and commented on how weak, howpunySora is after the fiasco that was the Mark of Mastery exam -- and although he tries to brush off the teasing from his friends and the jabs from his enemies, their words get under his skin, cutting deeper than anyone seemingly cares to see.Riku hasn't spent much of the past two or so years around Sora, but two years of separation and mistakes -- two years of growing up both in mind and in body, away from one another -- aren't enough to erase the knowledge carefully gathered and categorized over fourteen years of friendship. Riku would like to think he knows all of Sora's little gives and tells; that even after the time apart, he stillknowshis best friend better than anyone else in all the worlds; but with Xehanort's schemes and the search for the remaining Guardians of Light, it's not like they've had the time to simply exist around each other and figure things out.An overnight stay at the Mysterious Tower between missions might just present the perfect moment for Riku to test his hypothesis and for Sora to finally air out his frustrations -- to have them be trulyheard.
Relationships: Kairi & Riku & Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 66





	if the right words exist, may they find our lips

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AmbitiousSkychild](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmbitiousSkychild/gifts).



> Title from "Resolve.", by Sleeping At Last.
> 
> This fic's name on my documents is 'kh rant fix it fic', which is a pretty apt description. Me and my friend AmbitiousSkychild went on a long, rage-filled, caps-locked rant about how pretty much everyone treats Sora in KH3 and how it goes against the whole 'friendship' thing. We were furious. There was lots of screaming.
> 
> And then I decided that welp, since Nomura is clearly not fixing it probably ever, it's time to take direct action. I issued the both of us a challenge, to write our own hot takes in this whole thing while having Riku realize that something is truly wrong, and what you're (hopefully) about to read is my take on what could have happened. I took this opportunity to also showcase how salty I am at Kairi's entire self as portrayed in KH3. Goddamn it Nomura they are supposed to be a TRIO not a LINE, LET RIKU AND KAIRI BE FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> So I fix that shit. Enjoy.

It’s nighttime at the Mysterious Tower -- or, well, what they _consider_ to be nighttime in any case, given that the sky surrounding their little patch of land is permanently dark and starry -- and Riku has just excused himself from the King’s company, citing the wish to have a proper shower as well as a good night’s sleep before they go back into the Realm of Darkness the following day.

He makes his way up the ever-changing stairs with his head on the clouds, thinking back to all the information they have gathered so far about Aqua, Terra and Ventus, trying not to despair at what they must do next. They need someone who is linked to Aqua to dive deep enough to save her, but her two closest friends are nowhere to be found; what are they supposed to do, even if they find her?

Riku shakes his head to dispel those dreary thoughts, clenching his hand while squaring his shoulders. _We’ll figure something out,_ he tells himself, resolutely. _We’ll take her out of that nightmarish hell._

Feeling determined once again, he keeps the image of the room he shares with Sora in the forefront of his mind -- this way, the stairs can’t lead him astray. He has gotten lost inside this tower with Sora before -- it’s an experience he does _not_ wish to repeat.

He smiles upon arriving at their corridor, anticipating the feel of his soft mattress as well as of the warm shower he’ll have at his disposal in the adjoining bathroom. He looks forward to spending a few hours with Sora as well; his best friend had excused himself earlier than usual, but Riku would bet that the other is still awake -- possibly playing one of the many minigames he had told Riku all about.

He opens their door with little fanfare; Sora turns his head in the direction of the door as if spooked, being even quicker to go back to facing the window, letting out a suspicious sniffle and quickly wiping his eyes. Riku freezes in place at the suddenness of it all, stopped dead by the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it sight of tears in the corner of his best friend’s eyes.

Riku stays there in the doorway for a moment; time enough for Sora to plaster on a smile and turn to face him once more, pretending that his eyes aren’t slightly red and that he hadn’t been hugging his knees not even half a minute ago.

“Hey Riku! I thought you were going to spend longer talking with the King about tomorrow?” Sora says. Riku knows him well enough to notice that the corner of his lips are wobbly, the wide smile barely staying in place.

He moves away from the door, giving himself enough space to silently close it behind him. 

“Sora, what’s wrong?” he asks, furrowing his brows slightly. He decides to stand in place for a little longer; keeping his body language open and attentive. He knows that if he presses too much too quickly, Sora will close up like the clams they sometimes found around the islands.

Sora’s leg starts to bounce. “Whatcha talking about, Riku? I’m fine!” he insists, but his smile has grown fragile and his shoulders have risen defensively.

“Sora,” Riku sighs. That’s all he needs to say for Sora to know he’s not getting away that easily; his best friend goes back to his previous position, drawing his legs close enough to hug them and laying his chin on a knee with a huff.

Riku deems it safe to approach, leaving his shoes near the door before making his way to Sora’s bed, sitting close enough that his presence can’t be denied, but far enough so that Sora doesn’t feel crowded in.

Sora’s giant pout would be a funny sigh in another situation, but now all it does is break Riku’s heart.

“What’s wrong?” he asks again, voice soft. Sora’s pout grows -- something Riku only knows to be possible by experience -- and he shakes his head jerkily, hiding behind the protective cover of his own arms.

Riku turns his most unimpressed stare upon his best friend, raising an eyebrow to amplify the effect. Sora huffs again -- proving that he’s watching Riku even though he keeps his eyes fixed on the window in front of them -- and fully buries his head on his arms.

With another quiet sigh, Riku raises a hand and gently lays it on Sora’s messy hair, running his fingers through it in a motion known to be comforting to the other since they were little kids. Sora loosens the hold on his own legs and sways in Riku’s direction, leaning into the touch like a small animal seeking affection.

It’s been ages since Riku has seen Sora this bothered about something. He can hazard a guess as towards what this is about -- that afternoon’s progress report comes to mind, as well as previous meet-ups ever since they’ve received their new missions, for starters -- and curses the fact that it’s taken so long for him to see how badly his best friend is hurting. Distance throws a wrench in his normally careful analysis of Sora.

“I’ll stop prodding if you really want me to,” Riku offers, watching as Sora raises his head enough to turn one big, blue eye at him. “But I know that something’s really bugging you, and I want to help, if you’ll allow me.”

Sora frowns and bites his lip; for one brief, heart-stopping moment, Riku wonders if he’s been reading all the clues wrong, if he really still knows his best friend after all that’s happened in the past two years; all the fights and missions. He lets go of Sora’s hair and starts to withdraw-- but then Sora exhales and relaxes a little, shifting in bed to be closer to him, and Riku finds the strength to let go of those worries.

Sora opens his mouth then closes it. Riku leans towards him -- a comforting, warm presence, ready to wait for however long Sora needs him to. When he finally begins, his eyes are downcast, stare fixed somewhere on the floor.

“Everyone keeps insisting on this “Power of Waking” thing,” he says, face contorting into an annoyed grimace. “I can’t do anything until I get it, but no one can tell me how to go about finding it, or how will I even know once I’ve got it! What am I even supposed to do with a mission like that?” he asks, getting more incensed by the second. “What, should I just travel around aimlessly while you guys risk your lives on the Realm of Darkness, hoping to stumble upon it somewhere?? That’s stupid,” he all but spits out, lowering his chin until it digs into his right knee.

“You and the King are out there, looking for clues and getting stuff figured out to find the rest of the Guardians of Light while I jump from world to world with no clear destination, because of course I _had_ to screw up and lose all my strength and skills again,” he mumbles. “Everyone points it out. Everyone comments on it. I’m weak. I’m _puny_. I can’t even find the goddamn power of waking, what good am I even going to be in this battle?”

Sora buries his head on his arms again, pressing his legs closer to his chest to curl himself into a ball of misery. Riku feels his heart shatter inside his chest, shoulders dropping as he finally discovers the pain his best friend has been locking away.

“Oh, Sora…” he whispers, reaching out again to lay a hand on the other’s shoulder. “Come here,” Riku says, adjusting his position on the bed and opening his arms invitingly.

Sora doesn’t give him time to second-guess the offer for a hug, practically throwing himself into Riku’s arms. Riku gently shifts him until they’re both comfortable, lacing his arms around Sora’s shoulders while Sora fists the back of Riku’s jacket, burying his face somewhere near Riku’s collarbone.

“You are _not_ weak,” Riku says with a little more heat than intended, taking a deep breath before he continues. “You’re so, _so_ strong, in _so_ many ways. I get it that it sucks to be stuck with a nebulous mission, and I’m sorry I can’t help you with it-- I don’t know how I got it either, nor do I feel any different because of it--”

“You don’t have to apologize for that,” Sora mutters; Riku can barely make out the words, spoken onto his shirt as they were.

“Still. You shouldn’t listen to the Organization’s insults--”

“It’s not just them,” Sora grumbles, voice even lower than before; Riku feels rage climb up his spine as he remembers the comments he has heard from Donald during their time at the tower. In that moment, Riku wants to Dark Firaga that duck into oblivion.

“You don’t have to listen to _them_ either,” he retorts, voice nearly venomous. “Or to anyone else’s insults, for that matter. Can you look at me for a second?” he asks, drawing back slightly; Sora complies -- though he refuses to let go of Riku’s waist, -- turning red-rimmed eyes to Riku’s own. “I’m gonna say some more things, and if you interrupt me, there’ll be _consequences_ ,” he tells Sora, raising an eyebrow and letting the other’s mind come up with what consequences he might be referring to, smiling when Sora lets out a short snicker.

“Okay,” his friend says, gazing up at Riku and waiting.

“How many times have you saved the universe now, two? How many worlds did you travel to, how many people did you _help_ simply because you could? How many hearts have you touched in those two-odd years, Sora? Those things are way better proof of how strong you are, how _good_ you are, than anything the others can think of,” he shrugs slightly. “You have new abilities and magic, some stuff that’s positively mind-boggling, and people still dare call you weak? Man, I need to have some words with those people. With my Keyblade,” he says, dry as dirt. Sora snorts.

“Now that would be a sight,” he smiles, leaning closer once again.

“I am _oh_ so tempted,” Riku shakes his head. “Who knows, if you ask really, really nicely, I might even, hm, _accidentally_ set fire to Master Yen Sid’s beard,” he suggests, jostling Sora playfully.

“That would be hilarious! But it would also get you the punishment of, like, cleaning the _entire_ tower on your own, but then I’d feel guilty and I’d have to join you, and so we’d both be miserable,” Sora chuckles.

Riku smiles, glad to have made him laugh if only for a moment, but then he grows serious again. “Point is: we’ve fought those enemies before and we defeated them; we _will_ defeat them again. I’m sure of it,” he declares. Sora looks down and stares unseeing at some point near Riku’s belly button.

“I…” Sora starts, his voice the lowest it’s been the entire night -- Riku has to strain his ears to catch it. “I don’t know if I can be that sure…” he says, hands curling into fists, bunching up Riku’s white shirt.

“And that’s okay,” Riku insists. “I can be sure for the both of us, just as you’ve done before. Until you can find it within yourself to believe.”

Sora ponders on it for a full minute before nodding. “That’s a deal, then,” he smiles. Riku smiles back.

“Sure is.”

“Thank you,” his best friend says earnestly.

Riku ruffles his hair playfully. “Anytime, Sora.”

“Can we stay like this for a little longer?” Sora asks, fully embracing Riku’s waist again. “I miss you,” he pouts. Riku’s heart skips a beat and goes into overdrive; he has to stop himself from staring at Sora’s lips, now that the immediate need to comfort the other has diminished.

“Of course,” Riku replies, his voice mercifully steady.

“We can start getting ready for bed afterwards-- are you and the King setting out in the morning?”

“No, we’re planning on going a bit after lunch. We were going to do some inventory tonight, but decided to leave it for tomorrow. Oh, and I thought we could visit Kairi and Lea,” he suggests, smiling when Sora raises his head to meet his gaze, wide-eyed and excited.

“Wait, we can do that?”

Riku laughs. “Of course we can, Sora. Merlin left a portal to the time pocket thing they’re training in, right here in the Mysterious Tower,” he explains.

“I didn’t know that!” Sora exclaims, sounding upset. “But, wouldn’t a visit cut into your sleep time? You’re going back to the Realm of Darkness; you need to be _rested_ ,” he insists.

“It won’t,” Riku smiles. “Time flows differently in there. Even if we spend hours there, when we come back it’ll be like we spent just a few minutes away.”

Sora hums, considering the idea. “Well, if you’re sure, then I’m obviously in! It’s been a while since we’ve been able to hang out properly,” he muses.

“It has,” Riku nods, ignoring the little voice way back in his mind that asks _whose fault is that?_ with all the unpleasantness his fifteen-year-old self had -- something he’s getting progressively better at doing. “Do you want to go right away or do you want to stay here a bit more?”

Sora squints up at him, tightening his hold on Riku’s midsection until their chests are touching. Riku’s stomach does a somersault inside his thorax; Sora is so very close, and his eyes are _so incredibly blue--_

“I want to stay. Just a few more minutes? I’m finally getting my quality Riku time,” he grins, nearly bouncing in place.

Riku lets out a fake put-on sigh, hoping like hell that he hasn’t started blushing. “If you say so,” he drawls, becoming rigid as a board and letting himself fall on the bed, bringing a laughing Sora down with him.

“You’re gonna crush my arms!” Sora exclaims, not looking particularly bothered by the possibility.

“Too bad,” Riku shrugs.

“Meanie,” Sora grins. He shifts until half his body is on top of Riku’s, bending his knees to let the lower part of his legs kick at the air leisurely. “Hey, Ri,” he calls, pensive.

“Yeah, Sor?”

“Do you think that if I pet you, your eyes would change? Because of the whole Dream Eater thing?” he asks, looking quite serious while Riku wants the ground to swallow him right then.

He flushes, nearly curses, and throws an arm over his face to hide his blush -- though knowing his own body, it’s probably spread over to his neck also. Sora’s chin digs onto his sternum when he laughs, absolutely unapologetic; not that Riku had been expecting anything else.

“That’s it,” Riku decides, sitting up in a blink and forcefully dislodging a chortling Sora. “Cuddle time is over for you, see if I allow you near me anytime soon. I’m gonna hug Kairi instead,” Riku threatens, standing up and going to put his boots back on.

“Nooo, Riku,” Sora laughs, rolling out of bed to follow him, barely putting on his shoes before he’s jumping on Riku’s back.

“Sora! That could be dangerous!” Riku chides, glaring at the boy over his shoulder. Sora’s grins so wide his eyes almost close.

“Oh, c’mon Riku! As if you’d ever let me fall,” he snorts, still attached to Riku’s back.

“You little monkey,” Riku shakes his head, though his words have no heat whatsoever.

“Yes, yes. Now lead the way to Kairi!” Sora insists, pointing forward impatiently.

Riku wants to throw him down the stairs on principle.

“I guess I’m gonna have to tell Kairi about that one time during a sleepover when you sleepwalked to the kitchen, downed half a bottle of ketchup, made a mess of yourself and nearly gave my mom a heart attack when she woke up and thought her son’s best friend had been murdered in cold blood during the night,” Riku shrugs, nonchalant. Sora starts screeching right next to his ear halfway through the tale.

“Riku, you promised to never tell that to anyone!! You pinky swore!!!” he yells.

Riku would never break a promise if he could help it -- especially after the whole falling to darkness thing -- but it was still _so much fun_ to tease; so tease Sora he did.

“I made that promise to a nice little young boy, not to the goddamn Sniperwild clinging to my back,” Riku points out.

“Riku, you are _so_ rude,” Sora huffs. Riku knows that he’d be crossing his arms, weren’t they busy helping him hang onto Riku. “If only the adults that fawn over you knew how mean you are.”

“They’d never believe you,” Riku singsongs, visualizing the room that holds the portal to Merlin’s time pocket as he makes his way down the stairs.

“I have a camera now, I can get evidence!”

“Sure you can,” Riku drawls with a smirk, poking the tender skin on the back of Sora’s knees to earn himself a squeal and lots of squirming.

“I’m gonna kick your ass so hard the next time we spar!” Sora heatedly promises him, squeezing Riku’s shoulders with enough force for it to be just shy of painful. “Just you wait,” he seethes.

“Keep on dreaming,” Riku retorts, patting his knee condescendingly.

“I’d push you down the stairs if that didn’t mean I’d go down with you,” Sora tells him.

“Funny, I was thinking the same thing just three minutes ago,” Riku grins.

They reach the portal room not long after that, thankfully; Sora drops to the floor and walks into the portal, right behind Riku, who looks over his shoulder to catch Sora’s expression of surprise and awe once the forest materializes around them.

“This place is amazing!” Sora enthuses, taking a moment to soak it all up -- the trees that seem to go on as far as the eye can see, the still-sunny sky still a few hours from sunset, the occasional hill rising above the canopy.

Riku smiles and leaves him to it, drawing up a mental map of where the training camp is in regards to their current position. He’s drawn back to reality by the sound of a camera, discovering that Sora has taken a photo of him while he had been distracted.

Sora grins at him, not even pretending to be sorry, and Riku shakes his head, willing his barely-there blush to go away.

“It’s this way, c’mon,” Riku huffs, offering no further comment before he starts to walk to the camp.

It’s not a very long trek, but they take their time with it; Sora takes a lot of pictures, cooing at the occasional animal that passes by them.

Lea spots them first, alerting Kairi right away. She lowers her keyblade from where she had been attempting a spell and grins brilliantly, sending her weapon away with a flex of her hand before she runs to tackle them into a hug.

“Sora, Riku, it’s so good to see you! I didn’t know you’d be visiting us,” she beams, stepping away but still keeping both of them at arm’s length. Lea comes to stand awkwardly a few steps back, as unsure as he had been in Riku’s previous visit.

“Hey,” Lea greets, raising a hand. Riku notes that the man is still wearing his Organization coat, even though the fairies have provided him new clothes, but makes no comment. Instead, he sends a nod of greeting to Lea, taking stock of how the other relaxes at the acknowledgment.

“You cut your hair??” Sora gasps, staring at Kairi’s new look.

“Yeah! I figured something shorter was better for battle,” she nods. “I don’t think I could fight with hair on my face like Riku used to do,” she teases.

“Hey!” Riku exclaims, feigning offense. 

“I’ll never know either,” Sora agrees. Riku kicks him on the shin without a moment’s hesitation. “Ow! _Anyway_ , what are you guys doing? Can I join in? Oh, hey Axel!”

For two seconds, Lea seems like he’s gonna correct Sora, but then he shrugs with a grimace and lets it pass.

“We were just practicing a few spells,” Kairi explains, summoning her keyblade back to her hand, swinging it through the air once before she lets it dematerialize. “Axel sucks at anything that isn’t Fire, as expected,” she waggles her eyebrows. Lea protests while Sora laughs.

“I can help with that! I’ve gotten all my magic back already, and even some new ones!”

“Be my guest!” Kairi says with a flourish. Lea glares at her without any real heat before following Sora to the line of training dummies.

Riku decides to stay in place after looking over Kairi once; he is rewarded with an arm around his waist and her familiar weight against his side.

“Thanks for coming by,” she says with a happy sigh, watching the other two with a fond smile for a moment before turning to him. “It can get a bit lonely in here, with just Lea and Merlin’s sentient furniture for company.”

“No problem,” Riku shrugs, laying an arm around her shoulders. “I don’t think Sora had realized he could come in here yet, so I’d say you can expect his company more often in the future,” he chuckles.

“And yours as well, right?” she raises an eyebrow. “How are the missions going?”

Riku sighs. “Well, we’ve discovered a few things of importance, but we’re still no closer to rescuing Aqua,” he grits his teeth. “Her two friends, Ventus and Terra -- the former is hidden somewhere none of us know, and the latter is one of the thirteen.”

Kairi frowns, staring at some point in the distance for a moment, before she turns back to him with a confident smile.

“You’ll figure something out,” she tells him, sounding absolutely sure of it. It’s comforting in a way Riku cannot put into words. “And if you don’t, Sora will come to the rescue somehow. He’s good at that,” she giggles, eyes sparkling with mirth.

“He is,” Riku agrees, then shakes her gently. “But anyway, how about _you?_ How’s your training going?”

“Oh, well enough I guess. I can hold my own against Axel on a fight pretty well; or even win if I play my cards right,” she smirks. “He’s used to fighting, but not with a keyblade. Don’t tell him I told you this or else I might wake up with my hair burnt off,” she smiles playfully, “but sometimes he throws his keyblade like he’s forgotten which weapon he’s using,” she says, covering her mouth with a hand to muffle her laughter.

Riku unintentionally barks out a loud laugh that has Sora immediately turning to watch him, as well as Lea squinting at him. Sora gives him a radiant smile before he calls Lea’s attention back to the spell he’s demonstrating.

“My lips are sealed,” Riku promises, mimicking the action for good measure.

“Now, how are you holding up?” Kairi asks, looking up at him patiently.

“Eh, I’m okay,” he shrugs. “We haven’t been to the Realm of Darkness in almost a week, so the most we’ve had to fight are a few stray Shadows in the worlds we’ve visited. It’s a stressful mission, but it’s important.”

“I’m happy to hear that. But,” she frowns, looking him over from head to toe. “There’s something bugging you, isn’t there? I can see it on the set of your shoulders and the little furrow you get, right in the middle of your forehead,” she says, reaching out to touch it with a cheeky -- but still concerned -- little grin.

“You know me too well,” Riku sighs, but it’s fond instead of the sneer it’d have been a few years ago.

She studies him for a moment longer, humming almost inaudibly before glancing at Sora.

“I’ll bet twenty munny that it has to do with Sora,” she raises an eyebrow.

“I will not take the bet, given that I do not want to lose twenty munny,” he smiles.

“Chicken,” she huffs. Riku laughs. “What’s wrong? He’s trying to hide it a lot from what I can see, even though he’s relaxed a lot once he went off with Lea,” she squints.

“He’s…” Riku exhales, rubbing his face with one hand. 

She directs them to a fallen trunk, urging him to sit as she laces their arms.

“He’s not happy with the mission he’s been given. And that’s totally understandable, _I_ wouldn’t be happy either with a mission as confusing and vague as ‘find this very important power’ without any real clues on how to go about it, but… It _is_ important. It’s necessary for what will come next, you know?”

Kairi hums in agreement, silently urging him to go on.

“Plus,” he grimaces. “The others have been giving him a hard time about it as well,” he adds, his earlier rage upon learning of this coming back. “They keep teasing him for not having it, for having to regain his lost strength.”

Kairi’s expression goes steely -- something Riku can definitely relate to, -- her hold on his arm becoming tight enough for her nails to dig in. He shakes her arm slightly and she realizes what she had been doing, letting go and quietly apologizing.

They both watch Sora and Lea for a minute; right before their eyes, Sora lets out an Aerora, encouraging Lea to release a Firaga that merges with the other spell to become a small but certainly dangerous fiery whirlwind that has Sora whooping in joy.

Kairi chuckles at the two of them, softening for a second as she watches Sora have fun even with all the weight that has been placed on all of their shoulders. Then, her back straightens and her eyes become narrowed in anger as she remembers their conversation.

“You’re gonna take care of that, right?” she asks.

“You can bet your ass I will,” Riku replies, equally furious.

“Good,” she declares, crossing her legs daintily. Riku snorts despite himself.

“You can be threatening when you want to, Kai,” he comments.

“Of course I can,” she scoffs. “I grew up with the two of you, after all,” she smirks.

“Touché.”

“Still,” she exhales, resting a hand on the trunk behind her and leaning her weight on it, “let me know if you need some backup. It’d be good practice to kick the ass of some different opponents,” she shrugs.

“I’ll keep that in mind, Kai.”

“You better.”

Sora chooses that moment to come jumping towards them, a little sweaty but no less enthusiastic. 

“Riku, did you see that fire tornado we did? I’ve got to figure out how to do that on my own,” he bounces in place.

“I saw it,” Riku nods. “It would be a good strategy when trying to clear an area quickly.”

“Yes! Kai, do you wanna try some spells?” Sora asks, turning to her with a blinding grin.

Kairi hums. “I’d say yes, but-- how about we watch the pros at work, hm?” she suggests.

Sora and Riku exchange a glance, raising their eyebrows in tandem and nodding shortly after that.

“I guess you’re gonna get that ass-kicking sooner rather than later,” Sora challenges.

“That’s what you think,” Riku snaps back. Kairi snorts.

“Now, now, what have you boys been fighting about this time?”

“Oh, just Sora being a rowdy monkey,” Riku shrugs. “As usual,” he adds, smirking in the way he _knows_ riles Sora right up.

“Now you’re asking for it!” Sora exclaims, summoning his keyblade and getting into a battle stance.

“Asking for what, someone to wipe the floor with?” Riku teases, laughing when Sora throws himself into an easy opening move, summoning his own keyblade at the perfect moment to make a successful block.

“How about you get to the arena first, boys?” Kairi rolls her eyes, more than used to their antics at this point.

“We’ll just have to fight our way there,” Sora grins, doing a combo to test the waters and see how this battle will go.

At the edge of his sight -- and attention -- Riku sees Lea plop down next to Kairi; barely hears his question, focused on the spar as he is.

“They’re always like this, aren’t they?” he asks, shaking his head with a little grin. Kairi laughs, making Riku’s chest swell with the sound.

“They are,” she says, absolutely fond. “And I wouldn’t have them any other way,” she adds.

It’s the last thing he hears before the entirety of his attention shifts onto his battle with Sora -- the sound of metal grating against metal, the sight of Sora’s exhilarated smile beyond their keyblades, the strong and steady pound of his own heartbeat.

He, too, wouldn’t have them any other way.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm @thefiresofmustafar on Tumblr! I hope this fic provides you with the same vindication I felt upon writing it.


End file.
